Pediatric craniofacial repair has always been one of the most rewarding procedures for Dr. Moses to perform—and in the 35+ years since he founded the New Orleans Cleft and Craniofacial Team at Children’s Hospital in 1986, he has been blessed with the opportunity to help thousands of children overcome birth defects and go on to live healthy, productive lives.
We often receive notes of thanks from parents of Dr. Moses’ pediatric patients, but it’s rare to get an update 20 years later. Yet that’s exactly what we received just a few weeks ago, when a former patient and her mom shared with us the impact that Dr. Moses had on her life—and her life’s work. They have graciously agreed to let us share excerpts of those letters with you here.
“Her life would be entirely different if not for the team at Children’s Hospital. I am so appreciative.”
Dear Dr. Moses,
Your name recently came up in a conversation with a friend of mine, whose daughter is being treated at Children’s Hospital for a cleft palate. I may just be overly sentimental, but I wanted to reach out to you with a brief update on one of your former craniosynostosis patients—my own daughter, who just celebrated her 24th birthday.
You might enjoy knowing the impact you have made in my daughter’s life. She has wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember. Her perseverance has paid off. She has been accepted to medical programs at the New York Institute of Technology in Jonesboro, AR and William Carey in Hattiesburg, MS, and she has an interview with LSU this Monday!
Her confidence and strength amaze me. There is no doubt in my mind that her life would be entirely different if not for you and the team at Children’s Hospital, and I am so appreciative. I still get choked up and emotional just thinking back to those days; my adorable little baby with her lumpy little head….
I’ve attached her personal statement she has submitted for her medical school applications (skip to the bottom where she remembers sitting in your office, Dr. Moses). I’ve also included a recent picture of her. Of course, I may be a tiny bit biased, but I think she is absolutely adorable!
Forever Grateful,
Proud Mother
“My surgeons did not just reshape my head; they gave me confidence, joy, and most importantly, the chance at life every child deserves.”
Adapted from this former patient’s personal statement
“When I was diagnosed with craniosynostosis, doctor visits and surgeries became a regular part of my childhood. My memories of the surgeries are blurred, but my routine visits with the Cleft and Craniofacial Team at Children’s Hospital through age 12 have made an engraving impression…I’d sit in the doctor’s office grinning from ear to ear while Dr. Moses and his team expressed how beautiful I was, and in admiration of their incredible work.
Despite my eye patch and the thick scar running across the top of my head, my heart was filled with gratitude and self-assured hope for the bright future these doctors had given me. My surgeons did not just reshape my head; they gave me confidence, joy, and most importantly, the chance at life every child deserves.
Unlike most children who dream of becoming a firefighter or ballerina when they grow up, I aspired to be a pediatric plastic surgeon like Dr. Moses. I wanted to help other children the way Dr. Moses helped me. That ambition remains with me today. After shadowing physicians throughout my teen and college years, and having experienced different perspectives, I am committed to making a positive impact in the medical field and, more importantly, a patient’s life.”